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Student fixes pen with pinhole camera in female toilet to film girls

A pen with a small camera lens embedded (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore file photo)
A pen with a small camera lens embedded (FILE PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — A student entered his secondary school’s female toilet to affix a black pen with a pinhole camera to the cubicle door in order to capture video footage of girls using the toilet.

The 17-year-old boy intended to retrieve the pen later for the recordings. However, a victim saw the pen and found it odd. She later handed over the spy device to the school's vice-principal.

On Wednesday (17 November), the boy pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism and one count of distributing voyeuristic images, after he sent an upskirt video and two screenshots from the video to another classmate.

Another charge of trespassing into the female toilet, and one of filming his domestic helper illicitly in his house, will be taken into consideration for his sentencing.

As he was under 18 at the time of the offences, the student cannot be named as his identity is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act. A gag order also prohibits the naming of the victims in this case.

Angled pinhole camera towards toilet bowl

On 19 August last year, at about 1.15pm, the boy entered the female toilet on the third floor of the school and used double-sided tape to stick the black pen containing a pinhole camera onto the top of a toilet cubicle door.

He angled the camera towards the toilet bowl, intending to record female schoolmates in their private acts. He planned to retrieve the pen the next day.

Later that day, a female student entered the cubicle to use the toilet. The pen recorded her in the act.

As the victim was about to exit the cubicle, she noticed that the pen and found it odd. Upon taking a closer look, she saw that there was an SD card embedded on the pen, which had a pinhole camera. The victim removed the pen and handed it to one of the vice-principals of the school.

The discipline master lodged a police report on 21 August.

Filmed upskirt videos at MRT stations

Since 2019, the boy had also filmed a few upskirt videos of female strangers at MRT stations with his handphone. He would also film them while standing behind them on ascending escalators.

He sent an upskirt video and two screenshots from one of his videos to his classmate.

The boy’s lawyer, Audrey Koo, called for a pre-sentencing probation report, saying that her client is currently seeking counselling and engaged in his studies.

The boy will return to court on 15 December for his sentencing.

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